What Happens If A Whistleblower Is Wrong In California?
- Nov 19, 2022
- 3 min read
Whistleblower Retaliation And Potential Problems With Reporting Your Employer
The law protects whistleblowers from retaliation and wrongful termination. This encourages employees to report possible hazardous or illegal actions they've witnessed at work, which could save consumers and industries from fraud, health problems, and safety concerns.
What would happen if a whistleblower had been wrong about their suspicions? Can they be demoted, fired, or get reduced pay? Can you make claims whenever you want?
Here's what our prescreened California whistleblower retaliation attorneys have to say about it:
Are Whistleblowers Protected By Law In California?
When a person discloses misconduct at work, such as financial impropriety or discrimination, it is known as workplace whistleblowing. The whistleblower is often an employee, but they could also be a third party like a distributor or client.
Your boss can't punish you for "blowing the whistle." They can't fire, harass, demote, or cut your pay for reporting them to proper authorities.
You could "blow the whistle" in two ways:
Internally. A report is made internally by whistleblowing within an organization. Businesses frequently set up internal whistleblowing channels to allow employees and other stakeholders to report misconduct.
Externally. When someone publicly blows the whistle to the media, the police, or via social media, they are said to be engaging in external whistleblowing. However, if someone has tried to speak up internally without success, has little faith in their organization's investigation or reporting mechanism, or has no whistleblowing system, they frequently pick the public alternative.
These complaints center on behavior forbidden by particular legislation, such as a criminal offense, discrimination, or proof of a cover-up. However, speaking up might encompass various compliance and ethics-related issues.
If you don't know whether you have the grounds to "blow the whistle" on certain things, consult a prescreened California whistleblower attorney to help.
Workplace retaliation is when an employer (via a manager, supervisor, or administrator) terminates a worker or takes adverse action against a worker because the latter engaged in protected behavior.
Individual employees can suffer from retaliation in California, which can also be detrimental to general employee morale. However, adverse action may not always be obvious because it can be subtle, like leaving staff out of crucial meetings.
Adverse employment actions could take the form of (but are not limited to) the following:
Layoffs or firing
Demoting
Denying promotions or overtime
Denying compensation
Bullying or harassment
For example, if you reported workplace harassment to your HR and received a suspension because of it, then it can be counted as work retaliation in California. Likewise, if you get a pay cut or suffer harassment because you reported your boss to OSHA, you should contact a California whistleblower attorney ASAP.
What If The Whistleblower Was Wrong?
You're still protected from workplace retaliation in California, even if you turned out to be wrong. However, your employer can sue you if you've been proven to have bad faith or malicious motivations.
This means whistleblowers need good faith reason for reporting potentially illegal or harmful activity.
For example, you might have seen or heard something to make you believe your employer is doing something illicit or actively putting you, your coworkers, the community, or the consumers in danger.
Of course, your employer may try to claim you've done malicious reporting even if you didn't. If you're being accused as such or suffering workplace retaliation in California, contact a prescreened Los Angeles whistleblower attorney to help you.
Are Temp Workers In California Protected Fro Whistleblower Retaliation?
The staffing agency and its client (often known as the host employer) may be held liable for retaliating against employees when a staffing agency supplies temporary work to a company. Hence, your host employer and your agency can both be sued for retaliation in California.
Find A Prescreened Whistleblower Retaliation Attorney In California!
1000Attorneys is one of the few lawyer referral agencies certified by the California State Bar. In addition, we only give referrals to prescreened California whistleblower retaliation lawyers, so you know you're getting referred to trusted, experienced, and fitting lawyers.
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